As well as writing and writing related stuff, I sometimes work as an assistant to my husband. Gary is a maritime photographer – the best there is! This can be a tough job, lugging gear for miles in the cold and wind. Somehow though he never gets round to producing photographic evidence of that. Instead all I have to show for my efforts (other than his undying love and gratitude obviously) are pictures of me topping up my energy levels for such tasks.

There isn’t always a writing connection to these assignments, other than the fact I write in the van when there’s time for that and often set stories in the locations we visit. W.B. Yeats was different. That’s a new ferry, named in honour of the poet. Everyone who attended the special event to mark her entering service was given a book of poems.

That was at the end of February. Last weekend I was in Southampton photographing a new cruise ship and at Portsmouth Bookfest’s publishing weekend, where I was part of a panel discussion on self publishing. Fortunately the ship stuff was unfeasably early in the morning and ridiculously late at night, so I was able to do both.